 |
Scientific
name:
Haliaeetus pelagicus |
|
|
Family name:
Accipitridae |
|
|
Are they endangered? They
are endangered worldwide. (IUCN Redlist: Vulnerable) |
|
|
What are their past/present problems?
They are endangered from pollution, DDT, other birds
stealing the eggs, nests falling down with eggs in them.
Sometimes, when they are desperate for food, they will
eat a dead animal like a deer. They can die from lead
poisoning they get from accidentally eating the bullets
that killed the deer. Logging and people building in
their areas cause them to lose places where they live.
In Russia, they are building hydroelectric (using water
for electricity) buildings that are taking away trees
and places where the birds live and breed. |
|
|
What do they look like?
They have a big, bright, yellow beak, light colored
shoulders, brown back, white thighs and very sharp
talons. |
|
 |
|
|
How big are they? They
are about 3 ˝ feet wide. If they spread out their
wings, they would be about 7 to 8 feet wide.
|
|
|
How many eggs do they lay?
Females lay between 1 and 3 white eggs once a year.
They hatch in about 6 weeks. |
|
|
How long do the
fledglings stay in the nest?
Nests are made of branches and are very big. They reuse
them each year. Young birds (fledglings) will fly in
about 9 weeks. |
|
|
When do they hunt?
They hunt during the day. (diurnal) |
|
|
What do they eat?
They like to eat fish like salmon, sea cucumbers, octopuses,
dead fish, and sometimes seals. They eat MICE, herring and rats
when they live in a zoo. |
|
|
Where do they live? They
live in Asia, Alaska, Japan, Russia, China, and Korea. |
|
|
What kind of place do
they like to live in? They
live in Asia, Alaska, Japan, Russia, China, and Korea. |
|
|
Interesting facts:
 |
The eagles could become extinct in the next 50 years
because of pollution and over-fishing. The over-fishing
captures the same prey that they want so they go hungry.
|
|
|
These birds need to have about 11 minutes to eat without
anyone bothering them. When people—even birding
people—come around, the birds fly away and don’t get the
food that they need to survive. |
|
Works Cited:
Alsop, Fred. Birds of North America. New York: DK
Publishing, 2001.
Craft, Lucille. “Eagle on the Edge.” International Wildlife.
Sep-Oct 2000: 12.
De Volder, Linda. “Re: Picture Donation.” E-Mail to Club
Web. 8 Feb. 2008.
Haliaeetus pelagicus.
22 Jan. 2008. <http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/9650/all>.
|
|